Peaks and Pitfalls of Extension Scholarship in an Online World

Methods to engage Cooperative Extension
clientele are developing rapidly. Social
media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, videos, webinars, and blogs have
opened up new venues for extension personnel to generate important information
and deliver it in an expeditious manner.
There is no question that these methods are found useful by the
information consumers; however, many universities fail to adequately address
them in the promotion and tenure process.
Therefore, those in Cooperative Extension who are engaged in this area
know the importance of delivering this information via digital methods to their
audience, yet are unsure of the career value of the effort. Junior faculty members must decide whether or
not to pursue these avenues of information delivery based on often outdated and
vaguely worded promotion and tenure documents.
For example, this ambiguity has caused participation issues within
eXtension communities of practice, where digital information delivery is
standard practice. It is well understood
that the traditional peer review process is the currency of the academe. However,
this traditional system does not necessarily represent the vanguard in academic
scholarship.

This webinar is sponsored and hosted by the National Association of
Extension Program and Staff Development Professionals (NAEPSDP). For
more information on NAEPSDP, please visit our website at http://naepsdp.tamu.edu/